Logically, Sabrina knows she should be freaking out right now. She doesn't know where she is (nondescript forest somewhere, green and lush and definitely not anywhere in Manhattan, where she's supposed to be, sitting on a lichen-spotted rock and wrapped in a fuzzy blanket); how she got here (she was walking home from taking Basil to the park and should still be there); or who she's with (chubby chick with brown-blonde curls, maybe five years older than Sabrina, wearing glasses and a strange combination of floral patterns and Captain America memorabilia. She's holding a black cat that looks like it's been through as many battles as Sabrina and lost most of them).

She's pretty calm, though. She wonders, in the back of her mind, if maybe the girl drugged her and kidnapped her. That should be scarier than it is.

"So I don't normally do this anymore," the girl says, giving her a nervous smile. "But it's almost your tenth birthday and I couldn't resist." She holds out the cat.

Sabrina takes it. What whoever-this-is is saying makes sense, even though Sabrina's birthday was four months ago and she turned seventeen. The cat, who resisted the transfer, gives a loud purr and wraps its front paws around Sabrina's neck. She's glad she wore a turtleneck, even if it's too warm for it. She scritches the cat behind its ears, and it seems to love that, squirming closer to her face and purring more.

"I just thought you needed some validation," the girl continues, leaning against a tree and gesticulating as she talks. "I mean I've always thought you needed validation but like we're doing this thing, all of us, where we're celebrating you all, and I've seen some of the amazing things they do over at SPN to support their faves, and Ginger did something beautiful but like she obviously held herself back a little bit so I wanted to do you the justice you deserve because-"

The lady apparently runs out of air here. She stops to take a breath, making a face at herself as she does so. Sabrina chuckles.

Whatsherface looks very pleased with herself. "I'm Kat, by the way."

Sabrina doesn't introduce herself back. It feels unnecessary.

"So yeah," Kat says. "Like you're- I love you so much, okay? I'd adopt you if I could but like I can't 'cause I mean even if your parents weren't back I'm still in school and I'm poor. But I really, really love you and I'm so proud of you and I just... Like, you listen to everything Daphne thinks about you and sometimes your sister's wrong and she doesn't get it and-"

Kat stops. Sabrina would kind of like to defend her sister, but Kat's cat (heh, Sabrina thinks) is rubbing its head against Sabrina's chin and if she opens her mouth it'll probably fill with cat hair.

"You've done so much, okay? And I know you screwed up but every time you did you had the best intentions and I love you and you just... I know it's hard being neurodivergent- and you definitely are, okay? PTSD is a real thing and it's a mental illness and you might not be officially diagnosed but you've gotta have it and everything you go through makes total sense, all right? I mean, not, like, the magic stuff, but, like, emotionally? Everything you're feeling is valid and real and justified and I just want you to know that because nobody in your family treats you like you have any right to feel the way you do and you do, you so do and it's not fair-"

Kat's... is she crying? She might be, a little. Sabrina hands the fuzzy black monster back, only a little reluctantly. He might be full of love, but his claws are sharp, and Kat looks like she needs a little emotional support.

Kat takes her cat and smiles at Sabrina. "You're just... I'm so proud of you and how much you've grown and everything you do for everyone else and I just want you to know that. And I thought you could use some more love, so I brought Bug."

Apparently, the cat's name is Bug.

"I'd have brought you a drink, too, but I don't know what your comfort drink is," Kat continues. "I know you like blueberry cobbler, but I figured that'd get full of cat hair."

She puts the cat down, and it rubs against her leg, meowing insistently, as she walks towards Sabrina. "I just want you to be happy," she says, and she wraps her arms around Sabrina. "Everything'll be okay eventually, I promise, but you didn't deserve what you went through."

AN~ So that was my second entry to selfie week. If I talked to you at all about my entries, I was planning on MAYBE writing one and then doing a drawing of me loving Sabrina too much. But I couldn't get Sabrina's expression right so I had to just write about how much I love my darling child (and I do love her so much, but this was equally difficult, because writing your own dialogue is HARD).

Disclaimer: IF I OWNED HER SHE WOULD GET HUGS AND MASALA CHAI AND SOFT PUPPIES TO CUDDLE WITH AND I WOULDN'T KEEP HER SAFE FROM EVERYTHING BUT I WOULD MAKE SURE SHE ENDED UP HAPPY

Ahem.

Selfie week ends in less than an hour where I am, but remember, guys, you can still submit them! It's just tomorrow we're putting out a new prompt, which I will be a surprise for some of you and not a surprise for everyone I told. With my two submissions, we've got ten, total, which is AMAZING (ten for ten years)! All the love y'all are showing the series is great, and I hope you continue. It's beautiful.

IN OTHER NEWS LARA D THE LOVELY LADY MADE A COVER IMAGE! Everyone is free to use it for their fanfics, although if you wanna give credit I'm sure she'd love it. It's the image I'm using as a cover for this fic. We thought it would be a good idea to have a cover to make entries easier to identify, though of course you're under no obligation to use it. You can find it on OUR TUMBLR which is sg10thanniverse dot tumblr dot com, or on Lara and Ellie's deviantART page, which is Imagine0139 dot deviantart dot com.

As always, you can come talk to any of us about any questions you have. I've been automatically sharing fanfic participants that I find on the tumblr, but if you want to not have it there, just tell me and I won't. If you want to do some kind of visual art and don't have an account on any of the websites we're using (to reiterate those are tumblr, wattpad, deviantart, and fanfiction) come talk to one of us and we'll work something out.

Edessa should be home soon, so feel free to pick whichever of us you like best of find least intimidating; we're all keeping an eye out for things!

ANYWAY I'D MUCH RATHER YOU READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTE THAN THE STORY THE AN CONTAINS PERTINENT INFORMATION AND THE STORY IS SHAMELESS RANTING ABOUT HOW YOU SHOULD ALL LOVE SABRINA